captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> ifill: the republican hopefuls are back on the campaign trail today after mitt romney won six contests on super tuesday, but failed to put away his closest rival rick santorum. good evening, i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, we assess the state of play in the g.o.p. race with pollster andrew kohut, susan page of usa today, and trey grayson of harvard university's institute of politics. >> ifill: then, jeffrey brown looks at the diplomatic options available for dealing with the potential of a nuclear iran. >> woodruff: from the democratic republic of congo, fred de sam lazaro reports on one organization's efforts to help

heal communities after two decades of continuous warfare. >> i don't like to fight >> ifill: ray suarez talks to m lahood, back in the u.s. after he and several other americans were detained in egypt. that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: super tuesday came and went and the republican presidential race carried on today with no end in sight. instead, the most of the candidates returned to campaigning across the country. in winning six states, mitt romney still failed to deliver a knockout blow last night.

but today, he insisted it will come. >> i am prepared to fight all the way to become the nominee. and, you know, i was pleased with our success last night. >> woodruff: on cnbc, the republican front-runner insisted he knows the path that will take him to victory. >> obviously, we've got a very and we've got the time and resources and a plan to get all the delegates. we think that will get done before the convention. but one thing i can tell you for sure is there's not going to be a brokered convention where some new person comes in and becomes the nominee. it's going to be one of the four people that are still running. >> woodruff: romney's biggest win tuesday was his one-point squeaker in ohio, he also scored victories in massachusetts, where he was once governor and in vermont, virginia, idaho and alaska. former pennsylvania senator rick santorum won three states-- tennessee, oklahoma and north dakota. and former house speaker newt gingrich's one claim was georgia, the state he represented in congress.

only texas congressman ron paul didn't win a state. taking all of that into account, a romney campaign memo today suggested the results make it increasingly difficult for any of the others to catch him. the associated press projected that romney hauled in at least 212 delegates on super tuesday, giving him a total of 419. santorum picked up 84 delegates, bringing his total to 176. gingrich added 72 delegates to put him at 107 overall. and paul got at least 22 delegates under proportional representation systems. his total is now 47. more than 1,100 delegates are needed to claim the nomination. but romney's lead in the count did little to dissuade his rivals. santorum campaigned this afternoon in kansas, which holds its caucuses on saturday.

>> we had a good night last night but so did governor romney. that's why we have to start anew here. we have to win here in kansas and win big! >> woodruff: leaders of a super pac supporting santorum-- the red, white and blue fund-- called for gingrich to quit the race, and give santorum a clear shot at romney. but gingrich made clear he has no intention of doing so, as he campaigned in alabama, which has its primary next tuesday. >> we are staying in this race because i believe that it's going to be impossible for a moderate to win a general election. and i believe-- we tried it in 1996 and it didn't work. we tried it in 2008 and it didn't work. >> woodruff: the republican field will also hunt for

delegates in mississippi and hawaii next tuesdayand in illinois and louisiana, later this month. >> ifill: for more on what we saw on super tuesday and the path ahead for the republican candidates, we turn to susan page, washington bureau chief of "usa today," andrew kohut, president of the pew research center, and former kentucky secretary of state trey grayson. he's now director of harvard's institute of politics. >> ifill: wasn't last night supposed to clear everything up? >> i think it cleared -- it did clear some things up. i think it made it -- it wassest that mitt romney is likely to be the republican nominee but not done yet and will have to fight on and it other candidates are not going anywhere and we're see the fight continue for a month for or three months. >> i want to walk you through some things we saw last night and get your sense about it. one thing, i wonder what we were seeing in a state like virginia which we didn't pay a lot of attention to and ron paul won

81%. >> he's not romney. we were given a small number of people who turned out in relative terms but there's a reluctance to accept romney on very significant segments of the republican base. >> ifill: how did it play out across the board? >> we saw some familiar patterns. romney's inability to get the backing of people who are conservative and lost by 18% in oklahoma and 20 points in tennessee the states i looked at and some detail and we saw class mattering, romney does well among the people who earn $100,000 or more and well among the college graduates but with people with less education and money there's not much support. he was lucky in ohio. he just lost by a little bit to the less affluent working class

voters but in the southern places in tennessee and oklahoma he lost by 20 points among it. class and religion a factor. >> ifill: i want to talk about this in particular because in not winning tennessee last night he missed his chance to make a stake there. is there a problem in the south for mitt romney. >> clearly so and the south is a republican's regional base. that's where republicans have their stronghold and as andy says with the voters who tend to prodominate in the south including christian evangelicals and tea party movement he continues to only get a fraction of those voters, only a third in many of these states. that was a problem for him last night and there will be a bigger problem next week in alabama and other places that are more conservative. >> ifill: you've for office in kentucky statewide and actually your state borders ohio which

gives you room to talk about what happened in ohio last night. what happened for your party last night? >> well, i think in ohio what you saw was romney performing very well in the urban areas, particularly in cincinnati and rob portman a u.s. senator on the short list was a big backer for mitt romney and many support in 2008 when he ran last time and the numbers came in late and that's what made ohio so much of an around midnight when we finally figured out who won. >> ifill: when you watch this from a distanced do you think to yourself, the delegates are going win it in the end or does this momentum or perception of slowed momentum trump everything? >> well, they both matter. i agree with what susan said off the top that romney's going to be the nominee. it will take several months and as we've seen in some of the polling data that's come out in the next couple weeks the primary's been damaging for

romney and the republican party in the way the obama-clinton campaign didn't appear to be look, it didn't hurt them in 2008 and it's a different race and that's the fear if you're mitt romney and supporters he'll emerge but weakened and it's hard to beat an incumbent president and a weakened nominee won't make it easier. >> ifill: when you look at his chief challenger, rick santorum he didn't win with people you'd think like catholics or tea party members. >> he has not won catholics anywhere. >> ifill: that's surprising. >> we're going to do a poll asking people if they know what religion he is because it he hasn't won catholics anywhere and in the tea party he did well in tennessee and oklahoma. but it was eve en. one of the reasons why santorum didn't winnoe owe is the tea party people didn't perform tea party people have performed for

the non-romney candidates in most other places. don't know why. >> ifill: that's unclear why it is. do you see it all a path for someone like newt gingrich who said i'm going to go to mississippi and alabama and tough it out once state at a time. do you see a path in >> gingrich the opinion of gingrich is pretty low nationwide and i think there's places where he's going do well but he's not going to be the consistent challenger. the challenger at this point santorum it would be surprising to me if there was another resurrection of newt gingrich. doesn't look possible. >> ifill: and let's talk about ron paul though he got the chunk of percentage of voters in virginia. he didn't win or even do well in alaska the caucus state of his stay alive strategy. >> ifill: and got huge crowds in

idaho or the other two caucus states and failed to win in the maine caucuses. i think we're seeing ron paul fall back to the same position he played in 2008 which is a band of loyal supporters but they're not big enough to win a primary and at this point not even big enough to win a caucus although he continues to be the second best organized campaign. his campaign organization is second only to romney's in terms of getting on balance and doing the persistent job when the ca k caucuses go to the next round and the ron paul people will still be there. >> ifill: as you look at the other candidates that aren't going anywhere and no noises made or preparation made for dropping out of the race and unifying do you feel the lack of unity can hurt the eventual nominee in the long run. >> i worry about the damaging process but my hunch all along

has been when you get to the republican convention and mitt romney gets the nomination and stands up and says my name is mitt romney i'm the republican nominee it's a unifying statement and act and similarly in 2008 when john mccain won but didn't unify the party so much in the primary and he got ahead in the polls until the financial meltdown of 2008. i think a lot of the party base will be there the question's going to be the excitement level and can he -- was he so damaged in trying to win the primary he has trouble getting the independent swing voters to come back to the republican fold. >> ifill: let me ask you about enthusiasm, electability and excitement. any sense of that last night? >> i saw really interesting thing in the wall street journal poll and that's the enthusiasm the republicans have been holding over the democrats has disappeared. only 45% of the people in ohio

said they voted strongly on behalf of their candidate. most said they voted with reservations. there's more enthusiasm in tennessee and oklahoma but this is a field that barely the majority of republicans say have a favorable view it's very low and quite unlike the struggle went through in the tough obama-mrs. clinton race where it was tough and competitive but exhilarated. the republicans are not enthused by their choices. >> and they weren't calling each others li liar and cheats and fakes. does it become a slog from here on in. >> i think it will be a slog because the calendar's not friendly to mitt romney and needs to get to friendlier state

to have big celebratory victory nights but i know while the republicans are having their problems, no question about it, it's not as though barack obama his approval rating is 45% and that's not a high arating though he had a good month and a month when republicans were beating each other up. >> ifill: we'll be watching. as always suzanne and andy, thank you all very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: still to come on the "newshour": iran diplomatic options; healing the wounds of war and egyptian detainee sam lahood. but first, the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: the super tuesday results cost one former presidential candidate his seat in congress. ohio democrat dennis kucinich lost in the state's democratic primary last night. he was one of the most liberal members in the u.s. house, and

had represented the cleveland area since 1997. kucinich was beaten by democratic congresswoman marcy kaptur, after redistricting forced them into the same district. president obama issued a new appeal today to wean the nation from its dependence on oil. he said it would mean lower gas prices. the president spoke at a daimler truck plant in north carolina. he called again for developing american wind, solar and nuclear power and more efficient engines. >> sreenivasan: the president also urged congress to provide $1 billion in grants for cities to buy and use vehicles with advanced technologies. wall street rebounded today from tuesday's big losses. the dow jones industrial average gained 78 points to close at 12,837. the nasdaq rose 25 points to close at 2,935.

in syria, the red crescent got into the devastated baba amr section, in the city of homs, a week after a government siege ended. the relief group said most civilians had fled the area. syrian state television broadcast video showing clean-up efforts there. the government claimed terror groups were behind the destruction. the u.n. humanitarian chief valerie amos was also allowed to visit baba amr, as she began a three-day mission to syria. in washington, pentagon leaders counseled caution over intervening militarily in syria. defense secretary leon panetta appeared at a senate hearing, and was challenged by republican john mccain of arizona. mccain has called for u.s. air strikes against the syrian military, and he pressed panetta on the issue. >> can you tell us how long... how much longer the killing would have to continue, how many additional civilian lives would have to be lost in order to convince you that the military measures of this kind that we are proposing necessary to end

the killing and force to leave power, how many more have to die? 10,000 more? 20,000 more? >> before i recommend that we put our sons and daughters in uniform in harm's way, i've got to make very sure that we know what the mission is. i've got to... i've got to make very sure that we know whether we can achieve that mission, at what price and whether or not it'll make matters better or worse. >> sreenivasan: the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff army general martin dempsey said the u.s. military would be ready, if the president orders a strike on syria. british forces in afghanistan suffered their worst losses in years, on tuesday night. half a dozen soldiers were patrolling in helmand province when an explosion tore into their armored vehicle killing all of them. we have a report narrated by chris ship of "independent television news." >> reporter: this is the dusty track just off the main highway through the province where yesterday's six british soldiers lost their lives. two military cranes now stand

over the remains of the vehicle they were in. the bomb was so big even the warrior, one of the best armored vehicles available to the british army could not protect those inside. this is the type of armored vehicle which was hit in what is the biggest single loss of life here for the british since 2006. in one day and in one explosion the total of number of british troops reached and exceeded 400. >> this is a desparately sad day for our country and desparately sad of course for the families concerned. >> the u.k.'s 10,000 troops in afghanistan can in the and will not digest the news lightly and the most senior officer said it will not distract them from the mission. >> i can tell you their resolve is if anything stiffening. one to make sure the lives are not lost in vain and all the others that have died in the campaign but also because we all believe it's all about

protecting our own security. >> in the main british base they remember the fallen where they will reflect on how many more tours must be completed before in 2014 the combat mission will end. >> sreenivasan: two bombings-- one right after the other-- killed 14 people today in northern iraq. more than 20 others were wounded. officials said a car bomb went off near a crowded restaurant in tal afar. when a crowd gathered, a suicide bomber blew himself up. the city was a center of the insurgency in iraq in the first years after the u.s. invasion. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to judy. >> woodruff: next tonight, a turn to diplomacy as tensions grow between the u.s., iran and israel. jeffrey brown has the story. >> brown: iran's envoy to the international atomic energy agency was all smiles this morning as the u.n. agency's board met in vienna. >> everything under control. >> brown: ali asghar soltanieh's show of confidence came after a new diplomatic initiative. on tuesday, the u.s., france,

britain, germany, russia and china agreed to iran's offer for new talks about its nuclear program. the european union's foreign policy chief catherine ashton made the announcement, in response to a letter from iran last month. >> we hope that we will be able to now pursue with iran constructive engagement with the purpose of addressing the international communities' concerns about the nuclear program. >> brown: iran also agreed tuesday to allow u.n. inspectors inside the parchin military complex for the first time, after previously denying such access. the parchin site has been the subject of western suspicions that secret nuclear weapons work is going on there, something iran denies. the new developments came as iran's people are facing new and tougher economic sanctions imposed by the u.s. and the e.u. at his white house news conference yesterday, president obama said he still has hopes sanctions and diplomacy will provide a solution. >> we have a window through

which we can resolve this issue peacefully. we have put forward an international framework that is applying unprecedented pressure. the iranians just stated that they are willing to return to the negotiating table. and we've got the opportunity, even as we maintain that pressure, to see how it plays out. >> brown: but the diplomatic path also has its doubters. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu warned against new talks with iran. last friday, in canada, >> it could pursue or exploit the talks, as they've done in the past, to deceive and to delay so that they could continue to advance their nuclear program and get to the nuclear finish line by running the clock. >> brown: and in paris today, french foreign minister alain juppe said he, too, has reservations. >> i think iran is continuing to use double speak. that's the reason why we must remain extremely firm on the sanctions we have decided upon, which are from my point of view the best way to avoid a military option, which could have immeasurable consequences. >> brown: meanwhile, late

reports at the vienna meeting, said satellite photos show the iranians may now be trying to clean up radiation at the parchin complex. in recent weeks we've discussed the potential for military action against iran. now, we examine the latest diplomatic movement. for that we're joined by: suzanne maloney is a former u.s. state department official who dealt with iran issues. she's now at the brookings institution mehdi khalaji spent nearly 15 years studying theology and law in the iranian holy city of qom and later became journalist in tehran. he's now at the washington institute for near east policy. >> an agreement but about what exactly? >> i think it's an achievement we're returning to the table. we've had quite a bit of difficulty getting the iranians to even speaking about the

nuclear program and the communication from the iranian security committee has actually u indicated he's prepared to talk about nuclear issues. that's not always the case and the new-found willingingness at least on paper to allow inspections which is a major source of concern so it's a useful starting point. >> we have been down this road before, right? tell us about what led up to this? >> the sanctions which are in place now are quite unprecedent and really target not only revolutionary guard and factories and individuals but the whole economy namely the banking system and also trade. and one of the main concerns of the islamic republic is the

crisis becomes one of the side effects of the sanctions it that will be hard for the regime to manage it because they have a difficult time in 2009 in dealing with post-election prices. >> when you think of where we're at now and the potential for the negotiations one of the starting points for you is the sanctions are really hitting and hurting. >> yes, that's right. last month the currency was decreased to about half so people are panicking about people need to shop and prices are quite high. inflation rate increasing the number of unemployment is getting bigger and bigger and the country is really in trouble and the number of factory has it are shut down is increasing more and more. >> so suzanne maloney, if you look at both sides starting with the u.s. and european union and

other global powers what that's bottom line? >> for the west there's an interest in getting any source of successful product to the negotiations there's no expectation at this time we're going resolve the iranian nuclear issue in the decade in the next few months but we'll be able to rest tactical concessions from the iranians the concessions they've made in the past. >> such as? >> enrichment at 20% levels which is a source of concern because it's closer to a level needed for a nuclear weapon and they indicated they're willing to give on that that's only a two-year project at this stage so in effect if we were able to persuade them to forestall the enrichment in exhange for medical isotopes for the research reactor it would be a

less valuable version of the 2009 deal put on the table the iranians initially agreed to and later walked away from. >> and satisfactory to some leaders in the west? >> it's a utility to negotiations the iranians were not simply stonewalling if they were walking away with a confidence-building measure that suggested the iranians were at a different point in their mentality because of the economic pressures as well as the possibility of military conflict. >> and speaking of stonewalling and we heard that from french foreign ministers and others is they're playing for time as benjamin netanyahu said as well. >> that's right. the person in charge of nuclear program has a long record of uncompromising attitude and the

nuclear program is related to the destiny of islamic republic and any compromise on nuclear program would lead to a chain of compromises which ultimately target the existence of islamic republic and believes the west and israel would never recognize the islamic republic and to give up now is to give up the whole re regime and not willing to make compromise and i believe the only chance for a compromise would be with revolutionary guard and force him to make compromise. one of the purpose of the sanctions which hits the revolutionary guard and individuals is to provoke them against the supreme leader and

deepen the gap between him and the organization. >> another potential pipitfall would assume on the west side is there are divisions among russia, china, eu, u.s. which iran can play to. >> there are and we've seen that in the past days of did diplom with the statement given and russians and chinese are not as prone to welcome sanction and don't believe sanctions have a constructive impact on the policy and there are other issues causing frictions amongallies including syria there are probably plenty of reason for skepticism that it will lead to the end of the rainbow with the iranian program and it's important to invest in

diplomacy. >> the stakes would be presumably even higher because if the negotiations were to fail you have even those wavering in their sense in calling for military action may see that as more potential. >> this is the difficult with the way we know the iranians approach negotiations. they see it as a means of maneuvering and preserving their nuclear program. they've described their past negotiations in just those terms and the expectation is even the tactical concessions are not likely to bring us to the process of trust building the obama administration initially began the program of engaging iran with the intention of accomplishing. i think both sides now have relatively modest expectation and looking to get through the next few months and survive the crisis but i think we'll see the

estrangement i estrangement continue. >> both parties really mistrust each other and the think the expectation is low and they are open, both parties to a variety of it and i think that would be a significant chance for iran to postpone the possibility of war otherwise i think iran would face for sanctions and the economy of the country and also the politics of islamic republic would be in trouble. >> thank you both very much. >> ifill: now a look at one organization's holistic approach to healing the wounds of war. special correspondent fred de sam lazaro reports from goma, in the democratic republic of congo. a version of this segment aired on pbs' "religion and ethics newsweekly."

>> reporter: the united nations says the democratic republic of congo is the worst place on earth to be a woman. for two decades, regional militias have clashed over the minerals here. one of the weapons of war-- rape-- continues despite peace agreements and elections. by one estimate, more than 1,000 women are assaulted every day. one of the few places they can turn is a group called heal africa. here women work to shake off atrocities they have faced, to deal with their traumatic injuries. this woman wears a mask to conceal her maiming at the hands of militiamen who raided her home one night about a year ago. >> my older daughter escaped

from their hands. they told me to go get her. and i said she escaped from you, how could i ever catch her. since i wouldn't give them my daughter, they hit me on the head with a machete and after i fell down they used the same machete to cut off my lips. >> reporter: a volunteer health worker brought her here. heal africa was started 12 years ago by british-born lyn lusi and her congolese husband, dr, jo lusi, devout christians who'd served for years before that as medical missionaries >> heal is an acronym, it stands for health, education, action in the community and leadership development and all of those are components of a healthy society. >> reporter: the facilities are spartan, but it is the only such facility serving a population of eight million. heal africa survives on about $13 million a year in grants from abroad, public and private, providing everything from anti- retroviral drugs to hundreds of children with h.i.v. to surgery

to repair the bodies of traumatized women. dr. jo lusi is the only orthopedic surgeon in eastern congo, but he says this work is part of a larger idea. >> when you serve humans, i don't see you as a human, i see you like an image of god, so to do that you have to be holistic. you have to be total, you have to know what about the spirit, the flesh and the soul. here the people are lacking everything. they don't have food, absolute poverty. they are exploited. they are perishing because of the lack of knowledge; they are perishing because of the lack of justice. so me and my wife said okay, how do we do a holistic system? >> reporter: heal africa has trained some 30 young congolese doctors and other health workers. but the lusis say their holistic

approach goes well beyond surgery to helping rebuild women's lives. at this shelter, women like basenya bandora will spend months, perhaps years recovering from rape injuries. they're taught to sew, make baskets and raise small animals. and they are allowed to dream. >> ( translated ): i want to have a little shop... a little shop with a kiosk and i will make bread and i will sit there with my sewing machine and people will bring me things to sew. i will make baskets. if i can have a little house, that would be very nice. >> reporter: for now, for practical purposes, such dreams are pure fantasy. these women have lingering health problems. and militiamen continue to raid villages with impunity. annonciata frequently sees the men who maimed her, but reacted viscerally to a suggestion she might report them to the police. >> uh, uh, uh, uh!

( translated ): i'm terrified, they would kill me. only god can punish them for what they did. >> reporter: but heal africa has begun working to bring a more immediate justice to victims of rape. in partnership with the american bar association, local lawyers work to apprehend suspects and put them through the legal system here. it is flawed and corrupt but lyn lusi says only when congolese begin to buy into it will it begin to work for them. >> i would always encourage our legal aid to work ten times more on the issue of bringing the community in line with the law so that they appreciate what the law is trying to do and that they agree with it and that there's social pressure, there's a desire within the community for zero tolerance of sexual violence, of any sort of violence. >> reporter: that's what brought this 15-year-old girl and her father to the legal clinic to bring charges against a young man who raped her while she went to collect water for the family.

>> ( translated ): i want him not only to be put in prison but i also want him to pay for the damages he caused. last year, i turned 75 years old. when we were growing up, we never saw this kind of behavior. when you liked a girl, we would just get married. i am really astonished, not sure what's going on, how they can take little girls and assault them. >> reporter: lyn lusi thinks its a consequence of fighting that has raged for two decades in eastern congo, destroying any sense of community. >> you have seen your village destroyed, you've seen your, your people killed, you're a young man with no future, i mean you have every reason to fight and every reason to go off and join the militia. there are also those militias that will kidnap chilen and take them into their armies and just to reinforce their ranks. children are extremely good soldiers in that they have no fear and they have no conscience. >> reporter: where does one begin to repair this?

the lusis, say have worked to tap the enduring faith of most congolese. >> there is a mandate to care that's in the muslim community, that's in the christian community, and it's present in every single locality in congo. you could say that probably 95% of congolese will go to a place of worship once a month at least. so this is an amazing power within the community. and if we knew how to mobilize people correctly, around their mandate to care, then you can make a big impact on, on a social problem. >> reporter: heal africa has gathered religious leaders and other community elders into so called neheemiah committees. these gatherings address sources of violence early on, mediating local business disputes or competing land claims before

they escalate. lyn lusi says it's a start. >> i have no illusions that we're dealing with major issues that are pulling congo apart. there is so much evil and so much cruelty, so much selfishness and it is like darkness. but if we can bring in some light, the darkness will not overcome the light and that's where faith is, we believe that. i don't think heal africa is going to empty the ocean, but we can take out a bucketful here and a bucketful there. >> reporter: for her work, lusi was awarded the 2011 opus prize, a $1 million award given by the minnesota-based opus foundation to a faith-driven social entrepreneur. >> woodruff: fred's reporting is a partnership with the under- told stories project at st. marys university in minnesota. we'll be back shortly with americans detained in egypt. but first, this is pledge week

on pbs. this break allows your public television station to ask for your support.

>> ifill: now to the story of the americans, including the son of a cabinet secretary, who traveled to egypt to observe the elections and ended up under arrest. ray suarez has our story. >> suarez: for the year since president hosni mubarak was overthrown, there's been continuing unrest in egypt. protesters have demanded immediate reforms and an early end to the interim government installed by the military. the regime, in turn, targeted foreign groups that observe elections and promote democracy in egypt. a court charged 43 foreigners with stoking unrest and the government barred them from leaving egypt. the group included 16 americans, although nine had already left. those remaining included sam lahood, son of transportation secretary ray lahood, and director of the international

republican institute. that sparked warnings from washington about more than $1 billion in american aid. >> we are very clear that there we have worked very hard the last year to put into place financial assistance and other support for the economic and political reforms that are occurring in egypt, and we will have to closely review these matters as it comes time for us to certify whether or not any of these funds from our government can be made available under these circumstances. >> suarez: last month, after behind-the-scenes negotiations, the egyptian court abruptly adjourned the trial until april, the travel ban was lifted as well. the u.s. government then posted nearly $5 million in bail, and last week, six of the americans flew home. u.s. officials said it's up to them whether they return to egypt to stand trial.

sam lahood joins us now. >> doing in good afternoon and until the raid did you have an idea you were making the government so mad? >> we had a program in egypt since 2005 and the international republican institute despite our name republican in it we're not a republican institution and the sister organization the democratic institute as well don't seek to pick winners and loser in the places we work and don't have an ideological agenda and we try to advance democracy by working with political parties and civil society groups and particularly in egypt where you have all these new political parties formed at the fall of mubarak and candidates running for office that were never office holders before or campaigned before and we tried to be an added value in the

sense we're trying to impart international best practice and bring in political consultants with people with experience i am part what best practice is and we're not trying to pick winners around losers just trying to support the democratic process. >> with the government changing as it is in the troubled times signaled to you they wanted you to back off or not do certain things while you were in egypt? >> in the time i was there, i was there a year and a half before mubarak stepped down and after and i had half a dozen meetings and aplayed for registration in 2006 and told our file is complete and they're still waiting to make a final determination but the only thing i've ever gotten in writing in my time there was authorization to be international election witnesses which we brought in

folks to be witnesses for the parliamentary elections. >> when the government lashed out at the ngos working in egypt was there a point where you realized they're not just mad at me, i can't leave. >> for us it certainly was when i tried to leave the country to go on a personal trip to visit a friend in a neighboring country and was turns back at the airport and prior to that i had no idea there was a travel restriction and knew there was an investigation in egypt but that's when we realized the investigation took on a more serious tone and believed we were going to go to trial. >> were you worried you could be jailed as many egyptians are while they await trial. >> that was a concern. our attorneys told us it us unlikely and we were in essence

detained within the country of egypt and there was concern we could be arrested though absolutely. >> well, you're supposed to return in april, are you going go back? >> we're consulting with our attorneys right now what the best action and course forward is we'll take a determination as it comes closer. >> are you worried about the riis egyptian staff. >> we have four employees who are egyptian national has it remain in egypt and they'll remain on trial and the issue isn't resolved. the departure or the travel ban being lifted department solve it for the international republican and we're hopeful we'll find a solution equitable for all employees. >> does it have a chilling effect to monitor the evolution of democracy in egypt? >> i think the transition has been uneven and there were

things that were positive and the elections were positive in a large sense you had high voter turnout and parties were able to form up which was impossible under the mubarak government and hundreds of party has it formed and active participation and people were able to get on the ballot and that's a real positive development for egypt. other the other hand you look at the raids and the investigation going on with the national republican institute and i think you see a mixed picture of the transition going on. >> are you still anxious to return to the field after your experience? >> i think so. i've been talking it over with my wife about what we might do next and so we got married in september and we never got a honeymoon so i told her we'll take a honeymoon and take to figure out what's next. >> are you worried about what

happens next in egypt. >> for our colleagues and the people who were partners of ours and elected the way forward with egypt is not clear at this point and from our stand point in having worked in dozens of countries around the world that have gone through transitions like this it takes time and it's often times a bumpy road and not clear and so i'm very concerned about our egyptian colleagues and the work we set out to do and hope to continue to do in the future. >> sam lahood welcome home and thanks for joining us. >> thanks. >> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day: the republican presidential hopefuls got back to campaigning, after mitt romney failed to put away his closest rival, rick santorium, on super tuesday. and relief workers in syria finally got into a heavily damaged section of homs, after a month-long military siege. and to hari sreenivasan for what's on the "newshour" online. hari?

>> sreenivasan: we take more stock of super tuesdays results. patchwork nation examines which kinds of communities mitt romney is having trouble winning. find that on our politics page. on our science page, find out how climate change is melting away some beloved canadian traditions: outdoor ice skating and pond hockey. and what does it mean for the u.s. economy if there are fewer all that and more is on our web site: newshour.pbs.org. gwen? >> ifill: and that's the "newshour" for tonight. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. we'll see you online and again here tomorrow evening. thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundions. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs

station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org